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Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty said he is concerned about statements by senior Bosnian Serb political leaders that risk “fueling hatred and intolerance against Bosniaks.”
In a written statement, O’Flaherty said hate speech is incompatible with European values and legal standards.
“As emphasized by the European Court of Human Rights, hate speech is incompatible with the European Convention and with the values of tolerance, social peace and non-discrimination,” he said.
O’Flaherty stressed that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where hate speech has previously led to war and atrocities, public figures carry a particular responsibility.
“In a country where hate speech has led to war and atrocities in the recent past, individuals who are known to the public and who shape societal behavior through their words bear a special responsibility,” he said, calling on Serb leaders to refrain from hate speech.
His remarks came after former Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, who was removed from office, reiterated calls for Republika Srpska independence during a visit to Washington on Feb. 6 and argued that secession from Bosnia and Herzegovina would bring greater stability.
Frequently making headlines in Bosnia and Herzegovina for his separatist rhetoric, Dodik has declared that he does not recognize the Office of the High Representative, or OHR, and High Representative Christian Schmidt, institutions established under the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the 1992–1995 war.
Under Dodik leadership, the Republika Srpska National Assembly decided in June 2023 that decisions by Schmidt would not be published in the Official Gazette.
Schmidt, who has the authority to enact laws when necessary, rejected those moves and annulled the decisions adopted by the assembly.
As Dodik continued his separatist stance, including statements such as “Republika Srpska will secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina,” prosecutors prepared an indictment accusing him of failing to respect OHR decisions and seeking a prison sentence.
As part of the trial process that began in December 2023, Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison and given a six-year political ban. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina later converted the one-year prison sentence into a fine.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina Central Election Commission unanimously removed Dodik, who was subject to a six-year political ban, from his post as president of Republika Srpska.
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